


Into the Timeverse

by Dontjudgemyfanfichistory



Series: Timeverse [3]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I feel old, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Mask actually has a character tag, Self-Indulgent, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Timeverse, it's either or
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27665468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dontjudgemyfanfichistory/pseuds/Dontjudgemyfanfichistory
Summary: Time, afraid he knew what was going on, took a glance at the othersA boy, younger than eight with bright blonde hair dressed in the classic green of the kokiri.A young man, around the same age as Wild or Hyrule. Now in darker green and covered in blood. Through rips in his clothes you could see cut flesh and deep wounds. He looked as if he had been through hell and hadn't come through alive.A skeleton, almost Stalfos in nature, slumped against a tree. Covered in rusted armor and holding a sword. He recognized the armor.And the younger him, with the bunny hood and no hat, numerous masks hanging by his belt and enough anger built into him to power a windmill."Age." He said in an almost whisper. "Everyone here is the same person."
Relationships: Link/Malon (Legend of Zelda), Malon (Legend of Zelda)/Time (Linked Universe)
Series: Timeverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022914
Comments: 11
Kudos: 145





	Into the Timeverse

**Author's Note:**

> This takes Age and Time from right after chapter 7 of Adding Age to the Group. It takes Mask after chapter 3 of Mask. Fallen is dead. Hero Shade has moved on/already trained Twilight. Kokiri still lives in the lost woods and doesn’t have a fairy yet. 
> 
> You can totally read this as a standalone. I do not expect you to read the 100k+ I’ve written for Age/Mask. Just know that Mask is a young Time post Majora's Masks. And Age is a version of Time that stayed in the adult timeline to help fix the broken kingdom.

His mind was splitting open. Or that’s what it felt like. Time winced as he started to move, heaving himself upward. 

He felt dirt shift between his fingers, opening his bleary eye open, Time was able to locate that he was in a forest. The time was maybe early morning, definitely not midday. 

Next to him was Age. Still asleep and peaceful at that. Time’s hands came up to rub his pounding forehead. Where were they?

Sure, they were in a forest. Time glanced around the foliage. He frowned, there were other bodies strewn around them. 

He hoped they were alive.

Getting to his feat was a slower process then Time would like to admit. His armor weighed him down, making his struggle to get up louder, stirring Age. 

"Where are we?" Was the first question out of his mouth. 

Time hushed him. "Lost."

"The lost woods?"

"No. No idea where we are. But we're not alone." Time motioned for him to get up. "Now be quiet. We don't know what time of day it is-"

"It's been nine hours thirty-three minutes and twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five seconds past midnight." Came a voice from the trees. 

Time recognized the voice. He turned his head towards the sky, Age following his gaze.

A boy around the age of thirteen sat in the tree. He wore bright yellow bunny ears around his head, currently paying them no mind.

"You guys have been asleep  _ forever _ ." He sighed. "I honestly thought I was the only person around here who was  _ alive _ ."

Time gaped at the boy. That hair, the clothes, the bunny hood, the posture. That was  _ him _ .

". . . Do you know where we are?" He eventually asked. How did one talk to a younger them?

Little him shrugged. "No idea. I tried to walk away but I found myself with you guys again. I'm chalking this up to goddess bullshit. Now, who are you guys." He finally sparred them a glance, letting his eyes wander across Time. "And if you could explain to me why you look like the fierce deity."

"Time?" Age asked. "I think we just found new Links."

Time snorted. That was an understatement.

"See? That's what I'm thinking." The kid agreed. "I was just travelling with some guys all named Link. Then I woke up here for some fucking reason."

Age lit up. "Us to! But we were separated."

Little him snarled. "Two groups of Links? Hylia is getting a kick out of this." He gave in and jumped down from the tree. "The captain is going to go crazy if he finds I'm gone."

"The captain?" Time asked. "Warriors?"

Little him eyed him. "You know the captain?"

"We were travelling with him."

"Then you're full of shit. Because so was I. And I haven't seen your ugly ass around."

Time didn't remember being  _ that _ vulgar. 

"Is it possible," Age spoke up. "That we have been with different versions of the same party? I'm assuming you're speaking of the captain, Wind, Four and the others correct?"

"Where'd you come up with that idea?" Time wondered.

"Well we've seen that different timelines do exist. I'm wondering if we found a timeline where we're not there, and this kid is."

"I'm not a kid."

Time bit his lip. Glancing between the two of them. "Well if we're trying to place ourselves in the timelines. I know where he's from." He gestured to the kid.

"Oh yeah?" Little him raised an eyebrow, looking unbelievably smug.

Time second guessed himself. This could be very bad but- "I'm you." He stated.

Little him didn't move. He gave him a look of utter skepticism. "Uhuh, sure."

Age cocked his head. "Yeah, but I'm also you. That doesn't make sense."

Time, afraid he knew what was going on, took a peek at the few others still in the grass. 

A boy, younger than eight with bright blonde hair dressed in the classic green of the kokiri. 

A young man, around the same age as Wild or Hyrule. Now in darker green and covered in blood. Through rips in his clothes you could see cut flesh and deep wounds. He looked as if he had been through hell and hadn't come through alive. 

A skeleton, almost Stalfos in nature, slumped against a tree. Covered in rusted armor and holding a sword. He recognized the armor. 

And the younger him, with the bunny hood and no hat, numerous masks hanging by his belt and enough anger built into him to power a windmill.

  
  


"Age." He said in an almost whisper. "Everyone here is the same person."

"What are you talking about?" Age followed his line of vision. Stopping as he saw the boys. "Is that?"

"Me." "Me?"

Time advanced to the boy that looked dead. Images of fighting Ganon, running with the princess down the stairs of a collapsed castle, The master sword flying from his hands, came to mind. That deep cut on his arm, the tousled and bloody hair. He had to be dead. 

_ This was the him that failed. _

With a sinking feeling, Time held his hand to the neck of the boy. There was no pulse. But Hylia wouldn't give him a dead body. She wasn't that sick.

He shook him gently. "Hey," he spoke softly. "Are you alive?"

Little him was staring at them all. "Yeah haha, funny joke." He snarked. "You all look nothing like me."

Time paid him no mind. He shook the body again, waiting for a response. "Wake up. You can't be dead."

"He has the same scars as I do." Age mumbled. "Is he-"

"The one that died fighting Ganon."

"Shut up, all of you." Little him ordered. "We're not the same person. What Fight are you talking about?"

Time lost his patience. "Don't you remember? We were eleven, in a body much older than necessary, fighting for our lives." He snapped.

"Like I could forget!" He bit back. "I want to know why you know about it!?"

"Take a look at this corpse and tell me you don't recognize him!"

Little him took a step back, offence written on his face. Time glared at him. "This is you, except you died here." He pointed to Age. "And he won, but chose to stay with Zelda." He fixed his eye on Little him. "But you and I, we went back."

“What the hell are you on about?” His voice shook. 

His outburst was enough to wake the dead man. His sinking pale skin was stretched across his face as his bright blue eyes, the only part of him that wasn't dead and sickly looking, opened. 

"I'm dead." Was the first thing out of his mouth. 

Time took his eyes off him. "Yes. But you're with us now."

"I died."

Time put a hand behind the boy, lifting him to a sitting position. "You're safe now. Be at rest."

Age knelt down, putting a hand to the boy's shoulder. He shared a look with Time. "I didn't expect to wake up to this." He mumbled. 

Little him stood back from them. Face contorted into an unreadable emotion. "Why are you here then?" He asked after some time. 

Time shot him a scowl. "Same reason you were just with eight other versions of yourself. Hylia hates happy people."

The dead one- that was a terrible name but Time had nothing else at the moment, eventually calmed down. Age stayed by his side, reassuring him that he was alright and safe. 

Little him was back in the tree, not looking at the rest of them. He had muttered something along the lines of "You guys get to take care of this mess" before turning his back. 

Time was fine with that. He approached the smallest of them. This was him, he was a heavy sleeper for sure. Still a child, untouched by heroism or the gods. 

Time scooped him into his arms. It wasn't enough to stir the child. He continued to snore softly into the crook of Time's neck. He was so small, if Time dropped him at the wrong angle he might die. How had Hylia looked upon something so soft and small, and decided that he had to save the world?

He had tried for Sky. To learn to live and let live. But honestly fuck that. 

Age saw him. He stood up and beckoned to hold the child. Time let him, giving a mournful look as the child was passed on. "We need to think of names." He said softly. 

"I'm Age, you're Time." Age glanced at the child in his arms. "Kokiri and-" He paused as he looked at the dead one, who was now staring at the grass, occasionally picking at strands and rolling them between his fingers. "I don't want to name him." He admitted. 

"You." Age called to little him/ the annoying one. "You said you were with the party for a while. What did they call you."

Little him scowled. Time felt it rather than seeing it. "A nuisance for the most part."

"Alright, I'm calling you Young Link-"

"Alright fine! Mask. They called me Mask." Mask huffed. "Happy?"

"No."

‘The dead one’ would be such a cruel name. He needed to pick something that wouldn't remind him of his failure.

Time tried to explain everything as gently as he could. "You died. But we didn't." He knew that he was really talking to someone who was eleven. Scared and Tired, the shadow temple was probably still fresh in his mind.

He took it well. The knowledge that he was dead, that the rest of them weren't. The timeline split. A little bit about the other links. That they were all here, together. 

"What would you like to be called?"

"W-What timeline did you say I started?"

Time hesitated. "I said that we called it the fallen one."

"That's my name then, Fallen." Fallen gave him a weak smile. "I'm not much am I?"

Pity was stomped down by burning rage. This was disgusting. 

Fallen must have seen Time wilt. "I'm sorry." He apologized. 

"Don't. No you're alright, Fallen." Tim sighed. "You've done nothing wrong."

Kokiri had woken up. He was in Age's arms. 

"Who are you?"

Age smiled. "That's a very loaded question."

"Are you my dad? Kokiri don't have parents." Kokiri frowned. 

He chuckled. "I'm not your father. But I do care about you."

"You should leave. You're going to turn into a skeleton and  _ die _ ." He spoke it so plainly. Age grimaced, he had taken these things for granted, but geez. He was a kid. 

"I'm not going to die, all of us are safe." He assured. "Think of us as family."

"The kokiri don't have family."

"Good friends."

"My only friend is Saria."

"Acquaintances?"

"What does that word mean?"

Age sighed. "You're safe with us kid. You can go back to sleep if you want."

"Nope!" Kokiri wiggled out of Age's arms. "I'm hungry. Do you have food?"

\---

It was midday and Time had yet to approach the skeleton. 

Mask, Age, Kokiri, and Fallen had grouped up. Not that they were socializing or talking with one another. Mask was content to not say a word, Fallen as well. Age did all the talking for the both of them. With grand gestures he told the others stories about his travels outside of Hyrule. Explaining in great details the caves in the deep east and the many races of people that lived there. He was careful not to mention that he was the hero of the story, or that his Zelda was the same one Mask had left behind, or the one that Fallen had died protecting. Kokiri sat listening in wonder. He asked more questions about the outside of the forest. 

Time stared at the golden rusted armor on the stalfos. The gauntlets, the plate armor. He glared at the dead body. 

"Are you the one that taught the pup?" He asked. 

A single red light flickered where an eye should be.  _ His _ good eye should be. "You're very observant." The voice was as old and rusty as the armor. Time couldn't help but smirk. 

"Have you been awake this whole time?."

"Most of it." The voice reminded him of a smoker, throaty and deep. "The kid with the bunny ears was yelling at you all to shut up. Quite brash of him."

"He was you once."

"And if I recall correctly, you don't have much ground to chastise me young man."

Time laughed. "Now I'm the young one."

"And I'm the hero's shade. That's what the forest calls me."

"Is this your forest?"

Bony shoulders shrugged. "Who's to say. I don't recognize anything. These dead eyes don't see anything. More of a general feeling."

"I see."

"Well I sure as hell don't."

Time gave a dry chuckle. “I see I keep my sense of humor.”

“Well you don’t get to keep much else.”

\---

Age was coming to like this new group full of hims. Mask was grouchy and hated group participation, Kokiri was your run of the mill child, giddy and excited to ‘be out of the forest and meet people!’ Fallen was much more mellow. As young as he was on the inside, he wasn’t exactly excited to be here.

His clothes were exposing, he tried to keep his arms and body folded in so that no wounds were visible. Age had given him his cape, not much but enough to give him some modesty. Mask made a crude joke about having a gibdo mask, something along the lines of ‘If you ever want to have a conversation with a familiar face.’ Time had given him a swift cuff across the head. 

Fallen was still uncomfortable in his own skin, the Hero’s Shade trying to provide some comfort. 

“Death isn’t so bad kid, the stories I could tell you. I’ve seen a lot.”

Kokiri and Mask were raptured by the sight of the Stalfos. Age was used to it by now. Time would tell him about it later. 

“Is he dead?” Kokiri asked. 

Mask rolled his eyes. “No, Skeletons just like walking around.”

“That can’t be true! I’ve never seen a skeleton walk around.”

“There’s your answer then  _ genius _ .”

“Mask.” Age warned. 

“Oh shut up. This kid is an idiot.”

“That kid is you.”

“So?”

Kokiri was looking between the two of them. “We’re not the same person. He looks older.”

Mask bit back a few harsh words. “I’m a lot older than I look, you know.”

“We’re- I’m, you from the future.” Age explained. He gave a cheerful smile to the boy. “Whaddya think? Pretty cool right?”

“Woah.” His mouth was in a perfect ‘o’ shape. “You have a sword. That’s so cool.”

“Right? I fight all the bad guys.”

Kokiri frowned. “But you’re old. Kokiri don’t grow up.”

Age considered it for a moment. “You’re- we’re special. Just like we don’t have a fairy. It’s for a reason.”

“Oh my goddess- You’re a Hylian!” Mask butted in. “You’re not a kokiri and never will be.”

Time, who had been content with watching, took the time to grab Mask by the back of his shirt and haul him away. Age covered Kokiri’s ears as Mask let out a string of expletives.

“I’m not- What was he talking about?” Kokiri looked at him with wide worried eyes. 

Age shrugged. “I have no idea. What’s a Hylian?” He glanced at the two others. “Do you?”

Fallen shook his head, a small smile on his face. “No idea.”

“I’m just a friendly skeleton.” The Hero’s Shade added. “No idea what a hillbilly even is.”

“He said  _ High-leon. _ ” Kokiri retorted. “You’re  _ old _ . You should know how to say things.”

“I suppose you’re right. I guess my mind just isn’t what it used to be.”

\---

Time dropped Mask on the ground, not caring where the boy landed. 

Mask scrambled up, shooting Time a dirty look. “What now?” He growled. 

“What do you mean ‘what now’? You know what you did wrong.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure as hell not letting myself from the future get after me for something I did.”

“You were out of line.”   
  
“Fucking hypocrite that’s what you are.” Mask mumbled something more for himself then Time. “You sound worse than the captain.”

“You’d do well to listen to him more.”

“Oh yeah?” Mask raised an eyebrow. “I’d figure you’d say that.”

“No, that’s just what you say when people tell you things you don’t like to hear.”

“Oh yeah? Where’d you hear that?”

“Don’t play around with me.”

“Oh I’m sorry.” Mask stuck out his lower lip, wide eyes shimmering with mock wonder. “Oh wow! Older me! What’s it like being all grown up? Do I get a better life? Will I ever find someone that won’t want to use me? What wonderful things have happened that change my entire life?”

Time sighed, “Don’t do that.”

Mask gasped, hands flying up to cover his mouth. “Do what? Show my adoration and utter love for myself, who has so greatly improved that he’s just  _ so  _ much better then?”

“Stop acting like that.”

“Well, why?”

“Because things  _ have _ changed, and so have I.”

Mask dropped the act. “Oh well fuck you then. Is that better?”

“Marginally.” He stared down at the boy. He didn’t know if his trademark glare would work on a younger version of himself.

Mask seemed unimpressed. “Well then? Are you going to tell me? Did I get a personal apology from Hylia or somethin? ‘Dearest hero of time, I’m writing to let you know that I fucked up, and you were sent off approximately ten years too early. Sorry for the mixup.’ Did that happen?”

Time countered him with a question of his own. “Why did you tell the youngest one that he was a Hylian?”

Mask stopped his dramatics. “You’re kidding right?”

“He’s a kid.”

“And so was I!” Mask spit. 

“So? You couldn't have had a happy childhood, so you want to make sure that you never have it?”

“Because it’s not going to change anything! Like he’s going to wake in a few days anyway and Navi’s gonna be there and she’s going to yank him by the ear until he gets his first sword and almost cuts off his pinky finger picking it out of the chest.”

“And those days will be precious to him. What about Fallen?”

“Oh the dead one? It must suck being that bad at your job.”

Time felt the compelling urge to slap Mask right across the face. “You-” He started. “You do not know what it’s like to die.”

“Of course I do. You know as well as me that in Ter-”

“That doesn’t count! The clock was reset! No one was hurt except you. You failed them but you could go back. He didn’t get to go back.”

“What he failed at Isn’t. My. Problem.”    
  
“Imagine if you only had the three days? And you failed?”

“I had a time limit.”

“Then shut up and stop mocking him.”

“Well if you know Legend, He mocks him all the time.”

“And if you ever saw me around him then you would know that I don’t tolerate it from him either.”

“Fairies  _ above _ you’re so stuck up.”

Time wanted to shake him. What was so hard to understand about this? “Don’t mock him. Something had to start the downfall timeline. He didn’t choose to fail.”

Mask opened his mouth but Time stopped him. “And he did take precautions. That’s why Age and I are alive. No matter what we did, someone had to die.”

Mask snorted. “Fine. I won’t piss him off.”

“Good. And I expect you to be nice to Kokiri as well.”

“Sure. And the skeleton guy? Who’s that?”

“You and I die at some point, that’s him.”

Mask gave a look of utter exhaustion. “Wow, we can’t even die in peace.”

“Someone had to stick around to help Twilight.”

“Twi? What about him.”

Time shook his head. “He must not have told you then.” Twilight had once confided in Time that he had someone teach him the sword and what it meant to be the hero. Time then hadn’t known then that it was himself, but seeing a stalfos in the shape of him had opened his eye so to speak. Did Twilight make the connection? That would explain his aversion to talking about his mentor around Time.

“Tell me what?”   
  


“He’ll tell you when he’s ready.”

“Like hell! Tell me now!”   
  
It was Time’s turn to feel smug. “What, is Twilight your favorite?”

“Well duh. The captain hates it when I do whatever I want.”

“I told you that-”

“That I would be better off listening to him yeah yeah. But that’s you. I’m me and right now I want to go back to the others and see if blondy got some food.”

“Blondy? You mean Age?”

“Whatever the fuck his name is.”

\---

Fallen sat closer to Age. His head held in his hands. Kokiri was fast asleep in his lap, the hearty meal they had shortly before must have tired him out. 

Fallen had eaten a little bit. “I don’t taste anything.” He’d told Age. “I feel the texture, but nothing is there.”

He’d said he wasn’t hungry to begin with. “I remember dying. I guess I’m still dead in a way.”

Kokiri was confused when he talked about being dead. “But you’re right here.” He pointed out.

Fallen had laughed. “That’s right. I must not be as dead as I thought.”

Now he closed his eyes and tried to think. 

Ganon, Sheik, A giant pitchfork, a giant pitchfork in his chest- he stopped thinking about it. 

“I was, I was somewhere white.” He said aloud. “Like the sacred realm but less empty. I remember people there.” He looked up at Age. “Was I in the afterlife?”

“I’ve never been, I couldn’t tell you.”

Fallen looked to the Shade.

“I’ve yet to pass on. Don’t look at me.”

He brought his gaze down again. “Alright, it’s just me I guess. But you’re me right?” He asked Age. “Me if I had won the fight?”

Age hesitated. “Yes, and no. I won the fight and Zelda gave me the option of travelling back in time and changing the past so Ganon never rose to power. I chose to stay with her and rebuild Hyrule instead of going back. But Time chose to go back. That created a split in the timeline. One where I chose to stay, Time chose to leave, and you-”

“Died. Yeah I get it.”

Age winced. “Pretty much.”

“So, you know about everything wouldn’t you?”

“Your adventure? Yes. Everyone here knows about the seven year sleep and Zelda being Sheik and Navi and everything. Except the kid. He still thinks he’s a kokiri.”

Fallen gazed at the sleeping child. “He’s cute. . . Did I look like that?”

“I’d assume so.”

Fallen stayed silent for a while. 

“What’s like, after Ganon I mean.”

Age bit his lip. “In my case? Hard. I was as young as you are now, and suddenly I wasn’t a hero, but a soldier and a future king.”

“They made you King?”

“It’s what happens when you marry a princess.”

Fallen grinned. “Good. I always liked Sheik.”

“But  _ Time  _ on the other hand.” Age shared his grin. “He’s a real ladies man. He got to go on a few more adventures.”

“Is that why there’s a smaller him?”

“Mask? I’d assume that’s Time after his second adventure. From what Time’s told me, he’s a real bugger.”

“He’s loud.”

“He’s been through a lot. I’d talk to Time if you wanted to know anything from that Timeline. Or Shade.”

“I’m content being cryptic at the moment. I’ll hold my tongue for a bit longer.” Shade commented.

Fallen nodded. “Time then. I’ll be sure to ask him that. You said he was a ladies man?”

“Oh absolutely.” Age laughed. “You remember all the girls that took a fancy to you? Well Time got to relive all of that.”

“I feel like you’re stretching the details!” Time’s voice called from behind them. He was trudging back to them with Mask in toe.

“What? I’m telling exactly how I was told.”

Time sat down with the rest of them. Mask making to sit back in the tree they first found him in. “I was a bachelor for a very long time. I'll have you know. My first real girlfriend was a maid’s daughter. Her name was Tandra and she was very pretty.”

Age cocked his head. “Now  _ this  _ I haven’t heard. What did your future wife say?”

“Nothing much. She and I weren’t as close when I was still physically fifteen.”

“And mental age?”

“Thirty- maybe.”

“You old dog.” Age joked. “What happened?”

“She got engaged to a knight, and I was just a kid so I up and left in a huff. I think she’s happily married now. I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Huh, good for you.”

“You’re married?” Mask questioned in disbelief. He was sharpening his gilded sword again, a quiet scraping could be heard as he dragged the stone across the blade.

“Yes I am.” Time said coldly. “Got a problem with that?”

“No one could love you.” 

Time growled. “No, you think no one could love  _ you. _ ” 

“Who is she?” Fallen asked, ignoring Mask.

Time smirked. “You’d know her actually. Does the name Malon ring a bell?”

The soft sound of the blade being sharpened stopped. Mask had frozen in the tree. 

Time glanced back. “Oops, my bad. You probably weren’t supposed to know that.” He said it in such a deadpan way Age wasn’t sure that he actually meant it. 

“Malon?” Fallen asked excitedly. “She’s the one that gave us Epona right?”

Time smiled. “The very one.”

“Time is an absolute sap.” Age added. “Don’t you agree Shade?”

The Shade only sighed. “Ah, young love.”

“That’s my line.”

“You’ve been married less than thirty years, it’s my line now.”

Time shook his head. “Disrespected, by my future self too. Such betrayal.”

“You’re right! That must feel awful!” Mask called. 

“You don’t count!” Time replied.

\---

Any attempts to walk too far away from where they were put resulted in them finding this exact spot again. 

“I doubt these are the lost woods.” Time noted. “They look nothing like any lost woods in any hyrule, but this has to either be a form of it, or Hylia is getting real clowney.”

“Glad to see I don’t lose my ability to dunk on her.”

“Who’s Hylia?”

“You see kid, a Hylia is when the goddesses need a goddess to protect the triforce, but she sucks at it so much she needs literally anyone but herself to do it.”

“What’s the Triforce?”

“You certainly love to ask questions. A Triforce is the great divine fuck all-”

“No swearing.”

“Sorry Shade. The triforce is the greatest weapon against the forces of evil, and it can stop the most powerful foes. It’s made of wisdom, power, and courage. Courage is the best as you can see.”

“How is it made of courage?”

”It’s not all made of courage. There are three parts. That’s why it's called the triforce and not the force.“

“What can it do?”

“Didn’t I say that? It’s the big fu- the greatest power in all of hyrule.”

“Hyrule?”

“Forget this. Ask blondy all your questions from now on.”

“We’re all blond.” Age muttered slightly hurt. 

So they couldn’t leave this place. There was no great evil to be defeated, there was technically  _ no reason _ they should all be here. 

“Unless Hylia’s put me here to make peace with my future selves, I can’t see why I’m even here.” Mask protested. “And let me tell you right now I have no interest in making friends with any of you.”

“Even me?” Kokiri implored.

Mask stared at Kokiri. “Okay maybe not you. And not Shade wither. Being a skeleton is pretty sick.”

“I'm over a hundred freakin 'years old. I hope I’m cool by now.”

“Mentally or. . . ” Time prodded.

“Physically? I’ve lost track. Over three hundred I think. Mentally? Same thing.”

“What’s it like being a skeleton?” Age inquired. 

“Oh I play my ocarina a lot. I’ve written a few spooky songs I play whenever a youngster gets real close to me. They go running fast. Skull children like to bug me a lot, they leave a lot of flowers for me when they think I’m sleeping. Jokes on them, I can’t sleep.”

“No sleep? It’s a wonder you’re still alive.” Fallen joked. 

Time tried not to smile. Fallen was warming up to them. As much as one could warm up to themselves. The dead boy was starting to act more- and forgive him for saying this- Alive.

“You learn to live without it.” Mask dragged. “My record is five days, three hours, and twenty three minutes.”

“I see you’re still showing off your ability to recall numbers.” Time remarked. 

“And I see you’re still a prick, let's move on.” Mask kept talking. “Sleep is great and all, but getting things done is also cool.”

Fallen shrugged. “All I remember doing is sleeping. It’s kinda nice.”

“I hate sleeping.” Kokiri chimed it. “I never take naps.”

“You just did.” 

“No I didn’t. I was awake the entire time.”

Mask didn’t believe him. “And I punched Mido.”

“You did!?”   
  
“God no. That ass- I mean, Mido apologized to me.”

Kokiri frowned. “But I want to punch him.”

“See?” Mask pointed out to Time. “He’s got a mean streak in him.”

“Did I ever say that he didn’t?”

“No, but you like to pretend that you never had it.”

“Where are you getting all those assumptions about me? You have no evidence.”

“I agree with Time.” Age acknowledged. “I mean you’re right Mask, but why do you think you are.”

“Age.” Time groaned.

“Heck yeah.” Mask leaned back on the log he had claimed as his. They had decided to wait out whatever game Hylia was playing with them.

“He doesn’t want Twilight to think he was anything less than a perfect kid.”

“Twilight?” Mask perked up. “What is he your favorite?”

“I don’t have favorites.” “Yes.” “Yes.”

Time glared at Age and Shade. “ _ Fine,  _ I may like a bit more than the others.”

“Twilight has a ‘papa’s favorite’ pass.” Age commented. “Time dads him to no end.”

“ _ Age. _ ”    
  
“So Twilight then.” Mask looked to Age. “And yours?”

“Wind, Four is next.” Age admitted unashamed.

“I see,” Mask hummed. “Guess my taste in incarnations of myself doesn't change much then.” He wrinkled his nose. “But Four? I mean he tried to cut me once. Sure I pulled a knife on him first,” He trailed off. “Well I guess you wouldn’t have done that.”

“No? Do you pull knives on people at random.”

“I sleep with them.”

Age eyed Time. “That’s not a habit you still keep up is it?”

Time grimaced. “Wifey said no knives in the bed.”

“Oh my god you call her wifey.” Mask snickered. “And Malon? Her,  _ Really _ ?”

All the aura of playful fun that had surrounded Time before suddenly dropped. “I might take insults from you, and let you make fun of anyone here, but if you say even one thing against her I will shut you up against your will.”

Mask scowled. “Geez fine. Didn’t think you would be so uppity about it.”

“You’re pushing a thin line.”

“I get it, I get it, I’ll back off.”

“As you’d better.”

“Twilight? Wind? Who are you talking about?” Fallen began. “Are they the other Links?”

“The ones that aren’t the heroes of time.” Time affirmed. 

"You said you travel with them all. What are they like?"

"Well since you asked." Mask started. "Captain is tight, Legend is mean, Wind is cool-"

"I think he would like a better description than that Mask." Age stopped him. "Sky and Four are the heroes of the Sky and Four Sword respectively. They are the only ones that you might have heard of."

"You're traveling with the founder of Hyrule?"

"He's not a founder yet, from his point of view he only just discovered the land."

"And what about the others? Are there ones that come after me?"

"Legend and Hyrule actually. Hero of Legend, and Hero of Hyrule." Time explained this one. "Legend is one of the most experienced heroes. I'm not sure I could beat him in a fight. He's a great magic user and he hates Hylia as much as Mask does, but he doesn't show it as much."

"Does he?" Mask mused. "If he wasn't such a meanie jerk head I think I'd try and bond with him over that."

"He's mean then?" Fallen guessed. 

Time shifted his position. "No, not in the way you might think. He's prickly and quick to anger. But he's a good kid."

"And Hyrule?"

Time scoffed. "If you thought Legend was good at magic. Hyrule is the best. He's deadly on the battlefield. With a heart of gold. Both of them were raised in harsh environments, it's in their nature to restore peace."

Fallen cast a crestfallen look towards the ground. "I'm glad that they're good. I can't imagine that having Ganon win wasn't easy for the people of hyrule."

"They grew up just fine. And hopefully you'll get a chance to meet them one day."

"You think it's possible?"

"I'm talking to a ghost, and a reanimated skeleton is sitting next to you. That skeleton is also me in the future. I don't focus much on 'possibilities.' anymore."

Fallen hugged his knees. "I would like that." He stared at the fire that had been burning for some time. "You don't think they would mind seeing me dead would they?"

"No. I think that they're as jaded as we are to meeting random people who bear some significance to our adventure."

"Glad to hear it."

\---

"It's getting dark. You're going to sleep." Time ordered.

"Oh hell no, you are not getting me to sleep just by telling me to."

"Mask I swear to the great golden goddesses."

"Don't you 'mask' me! I am you, and past you who is also me makes really bad decisions, so you have no place to judge!"

Time slapped his forehead. "You're giving me a headache."

"And I'm considering breaking my ankle right now, just to spite you when you're fifty."

"Ok boys." Age put a hand on both of their shoulders. "Let's bring this down a notch. Mask can stay up to keep Fallen and Shade company."

"See? Age agrees with me."

"Age," Time snarled. "Doesn't like conflict."

"You're both right. Now calm down before I get Shade to do this for me."

Mask backed off. "I'll keep watch, sides I don't want to sleep close to him. He might try and strangle me in my sleep."

"I am literally living proof that I don't do that."

"Shade! Can you get these kids to stop it!"

\---

Mask sat in a tree, the same tree he was in that morning when he had first woken up. 

He was tired of this. Time was a bitch, did he really grow up to be so tight? He still hadn't asked about the eye, or the scars. Did he pull something with the Fierce Deity mask that would end up hurting him?

He watched as Kokiri snuggled against Age. Age was okay, it was interesting to see a guy who was younger on the inside. Kokiri was cute. It was nice to talk to someone who still thought that clouds were actually made of soft sugar. It was annoying for him to still think everything was perfect. What if he knew the great deku tree was going to die? Could he, at the age of seven or whatever, stop ghoma a few years early and save him?

Shade was okay. Again he was a more stiff version of Time, but knowing that one day he would be a skeleton covered in plants and armor was pretty cool. 

Fallen. . . Mask didn't like thinking about him. It made his insides clam up with guilt and other disgusting feelings. He'd been able to turn back time. Time was right there. Mask was lucky to go back. He couldn't imagine if he was given the three days and just those three days. He would have died as a deku scrub at the top of the clocktower as the moon crushed everything he'd come to accept as reality. 

Fallen looked dead. There was dark blood staining his clothes and his sunken cheeks suggested that he had been dead for more than a few days. 

He'd let Ganon win. He, even if it was from another timeline, had doomed an entire timeline. 

Watching as Time described Legend and Hyrule, yeah they were great and all. But was an era of darkness really worth the two good people that came out of it?

The night wore on, the fire died down. Time and Age and Kokiri all fell asleep. He listened in as Shade described Malon to Fallen. What it was like to be married and what a happy man he had been. Children, he mentioned children and even grandkids. 

Mask closed his eyes. So Malon huh? 

He liked that.

\---

Mask woke up to a gentle touch on his shoulder. 

"Mask?" 

He pried an eye open. A blurry image of Twilight kneeling above him. 

"Hey bud, you don't normally sleep in like this. Everything alright?"

Mask grit his teeth. "Everythin's fine." He rolled over, throwing an arm over his eyes. "I just- just had a weird dream. Gimme a sec, five more minutes, a little more time."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Since you asked. But we leave in ten."

"Sure."

"Sounds good. I'll bring you breakfast later. You slept through it."

"Okay. And Twilight?"

"Hm?" Twilight paused, just about to get up and walk away from the boy still wrapped in his blankets.

"Have you ever met a friendly stalfos?"

"N- no? Stalfos are monsters." His answer was delayed. *Liar.*

"It was just a question. Calm down." Mask dismissed him. "See you later."

"Uhuh, ok see you later." Twilight quietly stepped away from him. 

Twilight had met Shade. And he was also a liar. Good to know.

\---

"Sleepy head! Wake up!"

Kokiri shot up. "I'm up! I'm awake!"

Saria huffed, hands on her hips. "Good. Because you forgot to meet me at the store! I waited for you!"

"Sorry." He apologized. "I met some really cool people and we were in a forest and one of them had a cape and the other one was a skeleton and we were in a forest-" he looked around the room. "But we're in my house now! How did that happen?"

"It was a dream silly." Saria explained. 

A dream? That  _ did _ make sense. 

"It was a very good dream then." He decided.

\---

It took Time three seconds to realize that the forest he woke up in was actually the one was supposed to be in with Age, and not the one that he had woken up in yesterday. 

Age was awake first. He greeted Time as he pushed himself out of his bedroll.

"So did we have the same dream? Or-"

"That couldn't have been a dream." Time muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "If we both had a dream about meeting different versions of ourselves, then no. That couldn't have been a dream."

"Oh good." Age said relieved. "I was worried that you would say something like 'yeah! I had the same dream about apple pie as well!' and I would be stuck explaining to you that you were a brat when you were thirteen."

"No. I'm aware." He spotted Age's cape at the corner of his bedroll. "You gave your cape to Fallen didn't you?"

"I did. That's why I thought it was a dream." Age admitted. "But now I'm not so sure about that."

"I'm not sure there's anything we can do about this." Time spoke. "Do we just move on now? What was the point of this?"

"You think I have any idea? I wish."

"I'll add it to my list of things I'll ask Hylia about after I punch her in the face."

\---

Fallen watched in some somber curiosity as Time, Age, Mask, and Kokiri disappeared as they slept. Selfishly he wished that they would stay, and he could learn more about the future. 

Shade didn't leave. He stayed put, right next to him. 

"I feel everyone leave but you Fallen, is that correct?"

Fallen glanced over at the stalfos. "I'm the last one." He thought out loud. "When I disappear, where will I go?"

"Are you scared of the afterlife?"

"I little bit."

Shade laughed, it was bitter and Fallen could hear the echo in the armor. "I said I hadn't past on to the other side didn't I?"

"Yeah. You said that."

"I lied."

"You did?"

"If you're alright with it, I could take you with me. We could stick together." Shade suggested. "I could show you around, you could meet my wife."

"Really? And then what?"

"Wait for the others to catch up."

Fallen grinned. "I'd like that."

"Then to the afterlife we go." Shade pulled himself to his feet, using the sword he carried for support. "Take an old man's hand why don't you."

Fallen stood up, "Of course." He grabbed the bone and held tight. "We go together?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

**Author's Note:**

> Back in February I made a discord server that was literally about Time and all his incarnations. So shout-out to Hinn and Cy and like, the 1 other person on that server.
> 
> You have no idea how long it took to name Kokiri. Yink, young link, baby, child, a lot of them were very bad.
> 
> Here's a link to the server if u want: https://discord.gg/5xfQ3dqtJ2


End file.
